Goodyear, union launch investigation at Danville

DANVILLE, Va.—At least two investigations are underway to determine the cause of the death of a worker at Goodyear's Danville tire factory.

Including the latest fatality, four people have died at the facility in the last year.

The latest was 47-year-old William “Billy” Scheier, an electrician from South Boston, Va. An employee at the plant for almost six years, Scheier was killed early in the morning of Aug. 12, according to the company. He is survived by his wife, Wendy, and son, Will.

Goodyear and the United Steelworkers union are working together to investigate the root cause of the incident. The company and the USW are cooperating with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which also is conducting a probe of the plant, a Goodyear spokeswoman said.

While the tire manufacturer did not release the official cause of death, a USW official said Scheier was crushed by a machine. He could provide no other details on the accident, he said, because a number of things still need to be tied down.

In a statement, the firm said its onsite emergency response team, as well as local emergency personnel, responded immediately after the accident. It said the parties have been working jointly on the investigation.

Maintaining it is premature to talk about the next steps in the probe at this point, the Goodyear spokeswoman said the plant is operating and producing tires.

Three other deaths also occurred at the Danville factory in the last 12 months.

Greg Cooper, an 18-year employee and maintenance mechanic at the facility, died in an accident April 12. Two weeks earlier, Kevin Edmonds, 54, was killed at the plant in an industrial accident.

On Aug. 31, 2015, Jeanie Strader, 56, died when she was caught in machine rollers, according to a report issued by OSHA.

OSHA issued the plant nearly $17,000 in fines following Stradler's death, OSHA documents show.

The USW is working with the family, said the USW's director of health, safety and environment, Mike Wright, who is based at the union's headquarters in Pittsburgh.

“We have a system,” he said. “After a serious accident or a fatality, we send someone to work with the victim, in the case of an accident, or the family” if a death occurs.

“We also assist the union local and the company in investigating the accident. Sadly, we're very good at it because of the experience we have.”

Wright said the USW investigates an average of about 30 fatal accidents and 70 plant accidents each year. “That's not the kind of experience we want.”

When it is involved in an investigation, the USW “looks at who or what caused an accident and why it occurred,” he said. “OSHA also is concerned about what caused the accident but its primary concern is looking for violations of standards at plants. OSHA's standards work; there just aren't enough of them.”

He said the investigation will continue until the cause of the fatality is determined.